65 travelers at this place:

First day of school! Kids were amazing! Max & ivy took everything in their stride. Tom needed me by his side but was gaining confidence by the minute. Good signs.

Ivy's teacher speaks some English. Max & tom are completely immersed in Spanish. Quite funny listening to their take on what happened today. Max thinks his class were talking about pirates but isn't sure. Tom only talked about a boy who blew up a plastic bag and popped it on his head. Ivy did a picture of an elephante.

An embracing school community with a smattering of parents we could talk to from Canada, US, Holland & Germany. Even one Dad from Melbourne on his second year in Granada with his 4 kids!

You can see the toll the day had on Ivy. She is really embracing the siesta!Read more

The Granada Cathedral could not be constructed until the Christians had regained control of Granada in 1492. The foundations were laid in 1518 on the site where the mosque had stood. The Cathedral was one of the first to be built in the renaissance style whereas most of the Cathedrals that predated this one were built in the Gothic architecture of the Middle Ages. This Cathedral was therefore cutting edge architecture. To stand in it is to feel that one is standing in a Greco Roman temple of massive scale due to its classical influences which at the time were new and untried.

The wealth and history of Granada and its art are on display in this building.Read more

Granada is one of the most important historical places in Spain. It is here that the Moors held out for so long against the Spanish. It was in 1492 the Ferdinand and Isabella finally overcame the Moors and returned the city and the region to Spanish (and Catholic) rule.

It was also in 1492 the Christopher Columbus received royal support for his trip to the new world, something that would lead to untold riches for Spain and change the world forever. It was also in 1492 the the Jews were expelled from Spain. 1492 was a busy year here in Granada.

The Jewish history is fascinating in this place (before 1492). More on that later.

I went on. Tour of the gypsy area of the city, which is outside the old city walls, and where gypsies have been living in cave houses for many centuries. They are still there and have a history of providing labour and agricultural services for the city for many generations. The area of the city is called Sacremente. There are fantastic views of the city from that hill. The main attraction of the city, the Alhambra, can be seen clearly from the gypsy hill.

The Alhambra is the old Moorish palace which became the palace of king Ferdinand and queen Isabella when they took the city back from the Muslims.Read more

The Alhambra is a fortress and palace which is on a prominent hill in Granada. It is the most popular tourist destination in Spain. When we arrived at our hotel yesterday we were told all the tickets for the Alhambra were sold and the next available ticket was in about five days. We were told this waiting list was short because it is the heat of summer. In the autumn and spring the waiting periods can be five weeks. Not to be easily deterred, I got online yesterday evening and discovered a source for tickets for a tour for today. They were expensive but I wasn’t coming to Granada to miss out on seeing the Alhambra. So I bought them. I was very thankful we did. It is a very memorable tour. Don’t miss it if ever you are in this city.

The Alhambra began life as a fortress in Roman times, then began to develop as a citadel of large proportions during the Muslim rule. The Sultan built a citadel and a palace to impress visitors and create an impregnable fortress to withstand any invader. It served its purpose. The fortress was never taken. The Spanish king and queen Ferdinand and Isabella retook Granada from the Muslim ruler in 1492, the final city in Spain to return to Spanish rule, but they could not take the Alhambra despite besieging it, and only succeeded with a negotiated surrender of the city. The deal struck was that all citizens of the city, including Muslims and Jews, could continue to live peacefully in the city if the Muslim king surrendered the fortress and palace. The deal was struck. The Spanish honoured the agreement for a short time, then the Inquisition began its work and Jews and Muslims could only stay if they converted to Christianity.

The palace still retains its Muslim architecture combined with a renaissance palace built by Charles V, Isabella’ grandson. There isn’t just one palace, but a complex of palaces, a fortress with three levels of walls and Impregnable gates in medieval style, gardens, water pools, a complex system of bringing water from kilometres away which still flows through the palace, the gardens and to city today.

The tour went for three hours and we felt like we were only scratching the surface of this huge citadel. It was an amazing place that brought Granada’s fascinating history to life.Read more

I visited a museum of the Inquisition and Sephardic Jewish history in the evening, followed by a flamenco concert.

The museum told the tragic story of the Inquisition coming to Granada and targeting Jews and Muslims who had chosen to stay rather than flee. They had to convert. They were known as conversos. The Inquisition tested whether they had really converted or whether they were merely putting on a facade of conversion in public but still practicing their own religion in private.

The Inquisition had the power of the church and the king behind it so it’s power was enormous and much to be feared. The museum explained the process of trials and punishment in gruesome detail. There is very little left of Jewish people or culture in Granada as a consequence of the efficacy of the Inquisition.

After visiting the museum and seeing the sun set over the Alhambra, I went to a Flamenco concert which was a fascinating insight into a very Spanish form of music and dance which has its roots in the amalgam of the cultures of gypsies, Moors and slaves here in Granada. The guitar playing, the dancing, castanets, foot stomping and Flamenco costumes are amazing.Read more

Some more photos of this amazing palace and fortress.
Our guide was excellent. Her name was Irene. She reminded me of Priscilla in her younger days. She spent seven years studying to be a guide. She told us that the financial crisis of a couple of years ago has made it very difficult for younger people in Spain to get a job and many of her friends have had to go abroad to find employment.

This unique city combines Arabic styles with Spanish southern styles. Something we will never forget from Granada is... its narrow streets. Driving in Granada is quite an experience (specially driving a standard)!!!!

I have just arrived to beautiful Sierra Nevada mountains in front of me and 20 degrees. I met a woman on the bus into town who was complaining about the heat on the bus to me in Spanish and I actually understood her and agreed. I think the bus driver in his wool sweater still had the heat on. She told me she was panicking because she had to go to England for a month to work and had 2 small dogs that needed to be looked after. I growls her about the housesitting site I was on and told her that I was on and gave her my email address. She was very grateful and told me she would be in touch. It would be great to have one month in an apartment in central Granada and learn some Spanish and take a break from the hostels and especially cook for myself and omg shave my legs! We'll see if she contacts me- gotta put it out there. So far Granada is magnificent. The mountains are right there and I feel like at I'm at the west coast. Later I went for a walk and found the cathedral and the Artisan market which had so many beautiful things I wanted to buy, particularly interesting rings. I stopped in at a tiny canteen where four older men were having a rather intense conversation. I had a tapas and beer for two euros and then listened to them sing.Read more